Friday, 1 May 2015

Upset with doctors? Pharmacists may go on strike too

In an interview with the Guardian yesterday, Olumide Akintayo, President of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) said pharmacists may commence a strike action if the Federal Ministry of Health (FMoH) does nothing to stop the commercialisation facilities at Federal Health Institutions (FHIs) especially the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH) Benin, Edo State, and the Federal Medical Centre (FMC) Owerri, Imo State.
Akintayo said: "We at the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria will no longer condone the components of idiotism directed against our membership. The Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria hierarchy encourages our affected members not to be weighed down by vengeance laced in satanic antagonism championed by the Chairman Medical Advisory Committee at University of Benin Teaching Hospital, which has become a bastion of oppressing health professionals, which refuse to be stooges to doctors.

A letter to the FMoH signed by the PSN President, Olumide Akintayo, reads: "I find it necessary to put the FMOH on notice with regards to recent attempts by some FHIs to commercialize pharmacy facilities in their domain through sourcing of drugs by engaging private profiteers. Our investigation reveals that these acts are vengeful and discriminatory to punish pharmacists for participating in the last JOHESU strike."